Locking spring for die holder



Patented Dec. 7, 1943 LOCKING SPRING FOR DIE HOLDER Emil R. Weber, Allison Park, Pa, assignor to Jas. H. Matthews & Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application May 9, 1941, Serial No. 392,721

2 Claims. (01. 101-28) This invention relates to new and useful improvements in die holders of the kind disclosed in United States Letters Patent No. 1,503,842 granted August 5, 1924, and more particularly to an improved locking spring construction.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide a spring for locking the dies in a die holder in a manner to be balanced on opposite ends, thereby absorbing shock which would otherwise be transmitted to the locking bolt.

The invention will become more apparent from a consideration of the accompanying drawing constituting a part hereof in which like reference characters designate like parts and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a die holder embodying the principles of this invention;

Fig. 2 a vertical cross-sectional view thereof partially in elevation; and

Fig. 3 a bottom plan view.

With reference to the several figures of the drawing, the structure therein illustrated comprises a die holder I having an elongated opening 2 for receiving the end of a handle made of wood or other suitable material, one end of the die holder I being rounded as shown at 3 to constitute a safe head for receiving hammer blows.

The bottom of the holder is provided with a vertical slot 4 for receiving dies 5 having numerals or other characters to be impressed upon the article to be stamped.

The dies 5 are provided with slots 6 for receiving the finger l of a spring strap generally designated by the numeral 8, the strap being secured by a bolt 9 by fastening between a shoulder H] of the bolt and a screw nut ll. Movement of the bolt bodily carries the strap spring 8 thereby releasing or engaging the notches 6 of the dies 4.

The feature of the present invention is the interlocking of the free end of the spring 8 with the body of the die holder which is accomplished by bending the end of the strap as shown at I2 to engage a notch it? formed in the holder.

When the bolt 9 is drawn in the direction of engaging the finger 1 with the notch 6 of the dies, the bent end l2 becomes thoroughly embedded in the notch l3 of the holder, thereby locking the spring strap at both ends.

It has been found that by anchoring the free end of the spring strap in this manner, the shock otherwise transmitted through the strap to the bolt 9 is absorbed in the spring, thereby greatly adding to the life of the bolt and the usefulness of the holder.

While this appears to be a simple expedient, it has been found that this construction renders the bolt practically indestructible, which is a highly desirable feature in steel mills or fabricating plants where such die holders are subjected to rough usage in the marking of the products.

Although one embodiment of the invention has been herein illustrated and described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction without departing from the principles herein set forth.

I claim:

1. In a die holder, a body portion having a slotted end for receiving a plurality of dies, a flat spring having a finger for engaging notches in said dies to hold them in locked position, and a bolt for anchoring the spring to the die holder, the die holder having a notch for receiving the free end of the spring which is curved inward for interaction with said slot, whereby when the bolt is drawn for locking the spring with the dies, the free end of the spring is locked with the die holder to absorb the shock from the dies.

2. A die holder comprising a body portion for' transmitting hammer blows from one end to a series of impression dies, a vertical slot at one end of the holder for receiving the dies, a slotted opening communicating with said vertical slot and a notch in said die holder parallel with said slotted opening, a spring having one end disposed in said notch and having a curved portion with an extension thereof disposed in the slotted opening for engagement with slots in the dies, and a bolt extending through the die holder for clamping said spring with its free ends interlocking the die holder and dies.

EIWIL R. WEBER. 

